The year started with some history making news in the National Football League as the Philadelphia Eagles won their first Super Bowl in franchise history, defeating the heavily favored (yet again) New England Patriots, 41-33, in Super Bowl LII, ending a 57-year championship drought.
The Detroit Tigers modified the Olde English D on their home jersey to match the D on the cap. This was the first major change to the Tigers' home jersey since 1934.
A "feel good" story of the year surrounded the return of Atlanta Braves pitcher Jonny Venters. The Tampa Bay Rays stuck with the determined lefty who had Tommy John surgery three times and successfully returned to the mound on April 25, 2018 - the first pitcher to make it back to the majors after three such operations.
The 89th Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be held on July 17, 2018, at Nationals Park, the home of the Washington Nationals.
The National League & American League had a combined 7,335 strikeouts and 6,992 hits during the month of April. Never in Major League history had their been a month with more strikeouts than hits, until 2018!
All thirty Major League Baseball teams were scheduled to play an Opening Day game on March 29, 2018, the earliest start of a regular season in baseball history.
Major League Baseball implemented new pace of play rules in 2018, which include limiting the amount of mound visits for each team to six visits per nine innings. Teams will receive an additional visit for every extra inning played.
Under the new collective bargaining agreement reached in December 2016, the 2018 regular season was extended to 187 days in order to add four additional off-days for all teams.
"Twenty years ago, when you talked to National League owners about the DH, you'd think you were talking some sort of heretical comment," Manfred told reporters Thursday at the owners meetings in Coral Gables, Fla. "But we have a newer group. There's been turnover. And I think our owners in general have demonstrated a willingness to change the game in ways that we think would be good for the fans, always respecting the history and traditions of the sport." - New York Daily News Staff Peter Botte (01/21/2016, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred says National League could implement DH by 2017, Source)
2018 National League Player ReviewHitting Statistics League Leaderboard |
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Statistic | Name | Team | # | Top25 |
Base on Balls | Bryce Harper | Washington Nationals | 130 | Top25 |
Batting Average | Christian Yelich | Milwaukee Brewers | .326 | Top25 |
Doubles | Freddie Freeman | Atlanta Braves | 44 | Top25 |
Anthony Rendon | Washington Nationals | 44 | ||
Hits | Freddie Freeman | Atlanta Braves | 191 | Top25 |
Home Runs | Nolan Arenado | Colorado Rockies | 38 | Top25 |
On Base Percentage | Joey Votto | Cincinnati Reds | .417 | Top25 |
RBI | Javier Baez | Chicago Cubs | 111 | Top25 |
Runs | Charlie Blackmon | Colorado Rockies | 119 | Top25 |
Slugging Average | Christian Yelich | Milwaukee Brewers | .598 | Top25 |
Stolen Bases | Trea Turner | Washington Nationals | 43 | Top25 |
Total Bases | Christian Yelich | Milwaukee Brewers | 343 | Top25 |
Triples | Ketel Marte | Arizona Diamondbacks | 12 | Top25 |
Statistic | Name | Team | # | Top25 |
2018 National League Pitcher ReviewPitching Statistics League Leaderboard |
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Statistic | Name | Team | # | Top25 |
Complete Games | Michael Foltynewicz | Atlanta Braves | 2 | Top25 |
Max Scherzer | Washington Nationals | 2 | ||
Noah Syndergaard | New York Mets | 2 | ||
Jameson Taillon | Pittsburgh Pirates | 2 | ||
ERA | Jacob deGrom | New York Mets | 1.70 | Top25 |
Games | Brad Ziegler | Miami Marlins | 82 | Top25 |
Arizona Diamondbacks | ||||
Saves | Wade Davis | Colorado Rockies | 43 | Top25 |
Shutouts | Patrick Corbin | Arizona Diamondbacks | 1 | Top25 |
Michael Foltynewicz | Atlanta Braves | 1 | ||
Miles Mikolas | St. Louis Cardinals | 1 | ||
Max Scherzer | Washington Nationals | 1 | ||
Chris Stratton | San Francisco Giants | 1 | ||
Noah Syndergaard | New York Mets | 1 | ||
Jameson Taillon | Pittsburgh Pirates | 1 | ||
Trevor Williams | Pittsburgh Pirates | 1 | ||
Strikeouts | Max Scherzer | Washington Nationals | 300 | Top25 |
Winning Percentage | Miles Mikolas | St. Louis Cardinals | .818 | Top25 |
Wins | Jon Lester | Chicago Cubs | 18 | Top25 |
Miles Mikolas | St. Louis Cardinals | 18 | ||
Max Scherzer | Washington Nationals | 18 | ||
Statistic | Name | Team | # | Top25 |
2018 National LeagueFinal Team Standings |
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East | Team [Click for roster] | Wins | Losses | Ties | WP | GB | Payroll |
Atlanta Braves | 90 | 72 | 0 | .556 | -- | 0 | |
Washington Nationals | 82 | 80 | 0 | .506 | 8.0 | 0 | |
Philadelphia Phillies | 80 | 82 | 0 | .494 | 10.0 | 0 | |
New York Mets | 77 | 85 | 0 | .475 | 13.0 | 0 | |
Miami Marlins | 63 | 98 | 0 | .391 | 26.5 | 0 | |
Central | Team [Click for roster] | Wins | Losses | Ties | WP | GB | Payroll |
Milwaukee Brewers | 96 | 67 | 0 | .589 | -- | 0 | |
Chicago Cubs | 95 | 68 | 0 | .583 | 1.0 | 0 | |
St. Louis Cardinals | 88 | 74 | 0 | .543 | 7.5 | 0 | |
Pittsburgh Pirates | 82 | 79 | 0 | .509 | 13.0 | 0 | |
Cincinnati Reds | 67 | 95 | 0 | .414 | 28.5 | 0 | |
West | Team [Click for roster] | Wins | Losses | Ties | WP | GB | Payroll |
Los Angeles Dodgers | 92 | 71 | 0 | .564 | -- | 0 | |
Colorado Rockies | 91 | 72 | 0 | .558 | 1.0 | 0 | |
Arizona Diamondbacks | 82 | 80 | 0 | .506 | 9.5 | 0 | |
San Francisco Giants | 73 | 89 | 0 | .451 | 18.5 | 0 | |
San Diego Padres | 66 | 96 | 0 | .407 | 24.5 | 0 | |
2018 National League Final Standings | |||||||
Seasonal Events: All-Star Game | Home Run Derby | World Series Navigation: Year in Review Menu | Previous Season | Next Season Miscellaneous: A.L. Leaderboard | Rookies List |
Joe Panik, 2018 Giants, became the first player in Major League history to hit a home run in consecutive season starting 1-0 victories (March 29, 2018 & March 30, 2018) by his team!
On April 10, 2018, Asdrubal Cabrera homered batting righty, then again lefty, in the same game - the twenty-second time the New York Mets have had a player accomplish the feat, most in National League history, second only behind the New York Yankees.
Did you know that Barry Bonds had his #25 retired by the San Francisco Giants on August 11, 2018 - the ninth player in franchise history (including time in New York) to have his number retired by the team?